At least U.S. politicos not throwing punches in Congress

After a leading politician had her office door smashed in, she responded to the anonymous vandal by boasting, “I have a Glock 9-mm and I’m a pretty good shot.” Which was irresponsible and dangerous hate talk and likely to lead to tragedy.

The politician was Gabrielle Giffords, and what she said was really entirely reasonable. She was merely defending herself and her employees, and telling her militant critics she would not be pushed around.

So wrote Michael Cohen in the Toronto Sun as he decried the politics of hate in the U.S. and noted that it "simply has to stop."

He also noted:

... her language was far harsher than anything Sarah Palin has said, even when the Alaskan was being threatened with gang rape and death, and her family abused and insulted. It was also stronger language than Palin’s rhetorical “Don’t retreat, reload” comment and her website’s placing of targets over congressional districts that were, yes, targeted for electoral campaigns.

Will the political rhetoric die down? Doubtful. After all, this type of word-flinging goes back hundreds of years. But look on the bright side. At least our Congressional members are not throwing chairs and/or punches at each other as we've seen in Argentina, Ukrain, India, and other places around the world.